My mum fixes everything with panadol! I don’t know about other mums but mine is like my school health centre, she doesn’t care what you say is wrong with you or where it is paining you, she will prescribe panadol for you and give you goko cleanser to wash it down (the goko cleanser we are talking about here makes alomo bitters sound like icing sugar).

Anyways,

I’m always the one suffering it, headache, stomachache or whatever, mum never takes it seriously. She’ll raise her nose for me and then force me to do the stipulated chores – imagine how they treat a sick person.

Babe has been really strong for the past week

It started with a simple fever because he’s growing tooth and then escalated to a full blown boiling kettle of water kind of temperature. His parents were not even taking him serious, just like my mum does to me. It was crap and getting out of hand.

They want to kill my baby…

I got pissed off and put pressure on him and he finally agreed to go to the hospital. At the hospital, it was kind of the same thing, nonchalant attitude from the medical staffs. They didn’t take him serious until he threw up all over the reception floor (I was so happy – good for them), then he almost fainted on his way to get his injection. That was when they actually started taking us serious and paying attention.

There was this one time I was literally almost dying, Babe didn’t take me serious because I was just lying down in the bed refusing to move. It shocked him when I just got up and threw up all over the floor, that was when he actually believed me.

So it got me thinking,

Why does my mum never pay attention to me but rushes to my sisters for their slightest whimper
Why do medical staff attend to some people and neglect others
Have you ever been really weak but no one would take you serious?
It’s all one reason –

YOU DON’T LOOK IT. It’s the same reason it’s hard to see someone driving a big flashy car and believe they are broke (oga, how you take dey fuel the motor?), or see a beautifully well dressed lady and what crosses your mind is she must be hungry (excuse me, that does not happen). If you want people- especially my mum- to take your illness serious, then you’ve got to look it.

When my sisters are not fine, they act the part. So look the part.

Refuse to stand up to do anything – they can’t beat you (you are sick), even if they shout, stay on the ground and clutch your chest or stomach or whatever that is paining you. Groan, scream, shout, hala! Cry, force the tears out, if they are not coming out, think of your most painful memory (that guy that took your virginity and only ended up dumping you; how your money is still locked in mmm), think of all of it and shed tears. Roll on the floor, vomit if you can, make noise, create a scene so they can’t ignore you. Keep doing it until you get the attention you need, want and deserve.

Help won’t come except you ask for it. And if you ask cooly and they don’t give it to you, then take it by hook, nook or crook- take it by force. You deserve to be listened and attended to. You deserve breakfast in bed and your siblings doing your chores when you are not fine.

Take action now.

From dattaragurl,

xoxo.